I was disappointed in the News Tribune view that Ivan is best laid to rest and memorialized in Tacoma. We are the community who exploited him for so many years and, although I am sure many of our citizens “loved” Ivan, we did not treat him well. Wouldn’t it be great if we could make an effort to return Ivan to the place of his birth for his final resting place? As the opinion piece says, Ivan was “captured as an infant in what was then the Belgian Congo.” I imagine he was snatched from his mother, if indeed, she survived the capture of her baby. I, for one, would contribute to an effort to send Ivan’s remains to the place in which he should have lived his life. He doesn’t belong to Tacoma. A “pet cemetery” with a “tasteful memorial” is not appropriate. Ivan was not a pet. He was an unfortunate wild being who was held in very bad circumstances for most of his life and we were responsible for that. Don’t bring him back to the place of his forced captivity. If he must stay in the United States, then let him rest in Atlanta where at least some people tried to treat him with greater respect than we did.

People will fall over themselves fussing and fawning over a media circus, forgetting the dirty truth behind it.

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